EE 4G WiFi Mini
Hi All
It's coming up again to renew out yearly club "WiFi" subscription but I noticed that the club has done a deal with EE to supply a 4G WiFi Mini!
(See Link: https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/membership/member-offers/ee-4g-wifi-mini/ )
Now these things can be used in the car travelling or at the site and as its "4G" its meant to be quite fast? So our questions are too fold?
First, Has any member got one of these and is using it now?
Second, And if so whats it like?
Would be interesting as some sites only have poor signals and perhaps this is the answer?
Await any comments and thanks to all!
Have also spoke to "EE" regarding top up's! they come in the form of online @ £7 = 1Gb or £13.00 = £2Gb however the only problem with these is that they are 30 day usage? So you either use it or lose it?.
There is another option they offered us which was if you are low users then they will sell you a 12 month sim card which comes loaded with a total of 6Gb which drip feeds the unit every month with 500mb and every month thereafter for a period of 12 months and then expires this is charges at £16.99?
So as said comments would be great on this item? Or should we just stick with the clubs WiFi service at £25 for the year but no car coverage?
Comments
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We don't have One of the devices but have EE on one of our phones to which I can tether my pad. In general except close to population centres we don't find coverage as good as our other phone on O2. However, having said that, when you have coverage speeds are excellent. Even when EE drops back to 3G it is often faster than O2 on 4G. We also have an old pay as you go Mi Fi on 3. It's only the 3G version but can often get a signal when the others can't.
It depends on how import WiFi is to you. If you are restricted to one network there will be times when you won't be able to get a signal. Therefore it might be worth continuing your annual CC access.
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Hi ALL
Just spoke to my supplier BT! who tell me they brought EE December 2017! and yet don't even know about this service which is odd! and best they can offer is another sim to put into this device which is more expensive than buying EE's £16.99 drip feed one? We are tempted to buy one but how long will the device work for seeing that BT have now taken over EE?
P.s
To all we only use WiFi just to look up places on sites to visit nextday etc we don't stream, we don't social network
we prefer to talk to real people..lol)and we don't play games0 -
Hi Steve
As we have only just joined BT we don't go live until Apr 27th, but Yes we do have sim deals from them now which we could tether but this little device just seems so easy and fairly cheap and as we would leave it in the van it may be the answer to the problems of poor WiFi on some of the clubs sites?
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I looked at all the options some time back. My favourite for mifi was an unlocked Huawei (?spelling) into which I could put a sim of my choice such as the 3 Network Internet with Legs. All available from Amazon. I don’t think I’d want to be locked into one particular network.
In the end I didn’t bother but settled for tethering my Pad to my Phone. It works well on O2.
Yes, BT own EE and I’m sure took them over way before Dec 2017. They use EE to power BT Mobile.
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Steve. I am with BT and ordered a new sim with 6gb data / month for an extra £8/ month which I will tether laptop tablet when needed.
Ive had my phone unlocked so I can use any sim (PAYG) if Im in an area not best served by BT
We dont use CMC site that much and so far coverage has been good on all sites used.
I have used an unlocked mifi and shop around for data only sims (12gb that lasts for 12 months for around £29) on Ebay.
I understand BT also own Plusnet.
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Hi All
Have taken the plunge ordered one just to see what this thing is like, as the season progresses it may be interesting to see how it performs around the country?
Will update this thread again Friday as it is due tomorrow and we are off to sunny Kent to try a site out down that neck of the woods.
Lets see if it does what it says on the box? And as we only use it over the 6 month season it should save us a bit going forward in WiFi fee's?
All the best to All
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It all seems a lot of additional expense to me. I am with EE and get 20Gb of data on a sim only contract for my iPhone 6sPlus for £21 per month. Plus, because I also have EE broadband at home, I get an additional 5Gb of data for free - so that's a massive 25 Gb per month. Because of the size of the phone, it's virtually made my iPad redundant. I just don't bother with Wifi when away from home and am totally reliant on their 4g signal which I have found to be excellent.
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Gateway, we have 3 mobile mifi on a rolling contract for 20 GB Per Month for £16.45 pn. Reception is good across most of the country,and when on a CC site I use their wifi for free to come on here.
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R and R, we also have EE broadband at home and was looking to make use of the 5 gb uplift with an EE sim (currently on Vodafone)...
the was an issue that the data couldn't be used for tethering so I declined and stayed with Vodafone, which has been fine..
having just looked again at EE community, it seems you can thether abroad...do you have any experience of this?
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We had a MiFi until about 4 years ago, and it worked well but ..... your phone is a MiFi in effect so they are pointless nowadays. Just choose a mobile provider that allows tethering, and you can use your phone signal as a WiFi anywhere, without needing to power the MiFi. I use GiffGaff which works on O2 on pay as you go. The advantage is you can vary your data allowance each month, so you can increase it if you are in caravvaning mode, and drop it back at other times when you are mainly home based. To buy a MiFi, which is basically a simplified phone, and buy a SIM card that you already have in your phone, so that you can access the internet on your phone or iPad, that you can already do by tethering your phone, seems a bit of a waste of money and effort.
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Hi All
Just back from Folkstone where we tried out our new MiFi! in words three words "Brilliant" "Amazing" "Fast"
No more messing around connecting to site WiFi hoping that you get a signal! No need to faffing around using you mobile to tether! Just turn on and leave on and you can connect at least 3 devices as we had the Tablet and 2 mobiles each running the internet on one connection and great speeds as well!
So my advice is get one while the offer is on and don't forget works in the car as well just as long as you can connect to a 12 volt supply!
No more yearly cost for site WiFi now and I get to use it in the car as well with the tablet which is not a Mac
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I’ll be sticking with my phone and tethering but I’m glad to hear you're pleased with the mifi, Gateway. 👍🏻
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BB - sorry can't help on that - haven't used it abroad but I don't bother with tethering anyway. As I said, because the 6sPlus has such a big screen, it's virtually made all of my other toys redundant!
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I’ve bought an unlocked HUAWEI 4g mifi unit and bought a couple of 3 mobile internet with legs sims. Amazon do a 24gb version for £43.50 at the moment. The advantage for me of these sims is the expiry date. The 12gb version gives you 12 months from first use and the 24gb 24 months, this suits my erratic data usage. Obviously if you know that you are going to use a lot of data over a short period it would be worth buying a sim with a shorter usage period but a cheaper per Gb cost.
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I have a mifi from 3 network. 10gb for £8 p m. this also gives me as being a Netflix subscriber free use of Netflix and doesn't come of your monthly data allowance. you can take it anywhere with you just fits in pocket if needed while out and about. also up to ten devices can be used at any one time. good enough for me.
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If you own your smart phone outright and set up a SIM only contract with EE, having haggled for their best deal, then you should be able to have unlimited call, unlimited texts and circa 10Gb 4G data / month for less than £20.
You will need to look up new customer deals then ring EE Customer services to price match their offer if you are already an EE customer.
Tether your smartphone to your tablet or computer for a bigger screen.
At present the EE 4G network (shared by BT etc) has the best 4G coverage.
There are lots of rural areas without 4G coverage, so a backup Huawei with a 3 data only SIM will possibly provide service where there’s no EE service.
We use WiFi a lot, both at home and on the move, so connectivity is important to us. Although we’re not TV addicts, we do stream certain programs when away. We haven’t used the television for several years now. We also have an online newspaper subscription, research local information, check our home heating and control lights for security while away. In car, we’ve abandoned TomTom and use a phone ap for navigation. Occasionally the phone gets used to make telephone calls too :-)
Our integration into WiFi/ mobile technology means that we no longer use a landline at home. Our WiFi service is part of a SKY package on fibre, which also needed haggling (£98 reduced to £65) as above,
I hope that the above helps.
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We use Giffgaff pay as you go on our cheap smart phones. It works well but our own area of the SW has slow internet connections and in some places poor phone connections too. We have a Huawei but don't use it very often, we used to take a laptop but tend to use the phones more. Much depends on how much use you want from devices, ours are kept at fairly minimal levels.
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But it’s only any use if u are on a site where phone signal is any good so what’s the point. Might as well just tether to phone. No extra cost. Site like climber park don’t get a phone signal so mifi would not work and nor would tethering. So WiFi would be needed
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i use the EE 4g device very effectively. we purchased at local PC world with a larger monthly allowance, that eludes me at the moment, works to stream in the car for my young son, as well as on site for internet/netflix etc. (Not that we actually find time).
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Prob a silly question but can a virgin contract sim card that used in mobile phone ,be used in a 4g smart compact system https://www.motorhomewifi.com/product/4g-roof-antenna-e5577-mifi-save-25/
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It says it’s "factory unlocked" so it should accept any sim.
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Thankyou for reply
My sim deal i have has 100gb a month i, im never realy interested in have contact to me via my mobile (pease n quiet i say ) just want to link smart tv to internet night time stream films from me sons server back at home (doubt it will work) but am going to have a go anyway
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Well, despite my previous comments a couple of years ago, I did actually buy the EE Mini WiFi at the beginning of this year. I have to say that it's brilliant although I have only used it at a couple of sites so far, for obvious reasons.
My 'problem' was that Ros likes to watch catch-up TV - especially when we're away during the winter months. I tried using my phone and Google Chromecast but it was hit and miss and clunky to use. So, I switched to Amazon Firestick (with our non-Smart Avtex TV) and we have as good a system as we have at home. Perfect signal and no buffering whatsoever. The Wifi unit seems to pull in a much stronger signal than a phone - better aerial, I suppose, but it certainly works.
Where I have been 'uneconomical', is that I took out a 2 yr contract with EE who also provide our phones and home broadband - 30Gb for £18pm. I did this because I don't like the inconvenience of topping up PAYG sims, plus I can gift a further 12Gb from my phone if I need to. I also chose EE because they undoubtedly have the best 4g coverage across the country, based on my experience with our phones. But since I also pay for Netflix and Amazon Prime, for example - another two things I probably don't actually need - I'm not really bothered.
Of course, that £18pm is currently being wasted but there isn't much I could have done about that, so I'm just living with it. Not the end of the world in the greater scheme of things.
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